Finding Our Compass: Students of color navigating a doctoral program during a time of political, racial, and social upheaval
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15257/ehquidad.2022.0017Keywords:
Social justice, Reflexivity, Testimonials, Equity, LatCritAbstract
We use a storytelling approach in this study to convey our experiences as graduate students managing the triple pandemic of COVID-19, social unrest, and the mental health of doctoral students of color. We use the analytical practice of storytelling through testimonios to investigate how we navigate higher education institutions while enhancing our positionalities in the face of structural barriers and social challenges. We talk about our encounters with racism, discrimination, and power structures to demonstrate the influence of political and social pressures that exist as we navigate the doctoral program. We believe that if higher education administrators and educators are aware of the experiences of students of color navigating the laberinto of PhD programs, they can develop curriculum and support structures to help doctoral candidates thrive.
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